I'm back from a remarkably frosty FrostFest. The weather in Richmond itself was not as bad as it could have been, but the record-breaking blizzard just to the north of us dampened turnout somewhat.

Even so, the folks that braved the snow were enthusiastic, and it was great meeting current, new and future Depiction users.

Brian Hamm of the San Gabriel Pomona Valley Red Cross was kind enough to share his Depiction success story in the forum:

This profile of FEMA chief Craig Fugate is very encouraging in regards to our nation's preparedness. Two things stood out to me as I read the article--specifically, the ways that Fugate's philosophy meshes very closely to ours here at Depiction. Though it came out originally a while ago, I think they are still worth noting.

First, Fugate is very big on asking "What if?":

The Social Media Responder 2009 contest, sponsored by Depiction, has narrowed to six finalists:

Ric Skinner, also known as healthGISguy, has an excellent article up at Directions Magazine, examining the role of GIS in supporting emergency management in hospitals and healthcare. In it, he includes a list of questions that healthcare facilities might have, which sound like great Depiction scenarios/ Here are a few examples that fit particularly well:

The good folks at PIO Social Media Training are hosting a contest to find the best First Response or Public Safety user of social media. We're sponsoring the contest--and the winner will receive a free copy of Depiction.

We're sending David Friedman, our Amateur Radio technical consultant to the ARRL Florida State Convention this weekend, 12/5-6/2009.

David will man a booth with two laptops running Depiction, be available to tell you about his experience using Depiction in EmComm operations and have information about discounts for your ARES/RACES teams. He'll have some other special things, too, so look for him there!

The QST article by Depiction user David Friedman, KE7GOY, is now available for download as a PDF. David has used Depiction to do some pretty remarkable things, some of which he describes in the article. Here's how it kicks off:

We had our first webinar with our good friend and Amateur Radio User David Friedman, KE7GOY. He and Kim Buike did an incredible job detailing the ways that Depiction can be useful to amateur radio folks, particularly those involved with emergency response.

Over 350 people attended the webinar, and we had great reports from those who attended. Here are a few of the things some attendees had to say:

“Thank you for the webinar! It has been very enjoyable, and software appears quite beneficial.”